Apparatus for sealing and evacuating containers



April 28, 1953 c. w. LAURITZEN APPARATUS FOR SEALING AND EVACUATING CONTAINERS Original Filed Nov. 21, 1944 VACUUM LINE Patented Apr. 28, 1953 APPARATUS '-'FOR SEALING: AND EVACUATING 3C ONTAINERS ,Gyril WaLauritzemLogan, Utah Original application'November 21, 1944; Serial No. 56L498.- 1 Divided and this application January "7, 1949,:Se11iaLNc. 69,763

.iGlaims. (Cl. 226-82) Gi'antedyunder Title 35,11; s. Code? (1952). I

sec. 266),

application ismade under" the act of March 3, 1383; as amended-by theact or April 30,; 1928 and the invention herein described, if patented in any country may bemanuiactured and used by or for the Government of the United States ofAmer-ica for governmentalpurposes* throughout the world without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

This application is adivision of copending applicationfor patent, Serial No. 564,498, filed November 21, 1944;" now abandoned.

This inventionrelates-to the preservation of food products; andipi ffparticular to food containers;with special reference tothe sealing thereof; and to the apparatus for their evacuation, and has among, its objects the production of simpleand eiiicient-means for this purpose, andas suchpther,objectsas may be apparent from'the following'description and claims.

In general theinvention comprises a food container with a lid, in which: a sealing means is-provided by a groove between. the container and lid, and which groovepmay be evacuated through art aperture in thealidthus to {hold the lidmnder pressure on the container andproduce a seal at eachrim ofthegroove. I' The invention also; comprises. an evacuating attachment; which carries1aisealing element so that,,after-'evacuation, the attachment may be slid over the aperture and the sealing element slid on it to prevent ingress of air.

Referring to the annexed drawing:

Figure 1 is a three-dimensional view of the evacuating apparatus, including the evacuating attachment which contains the sealing element;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal section of the container with all parts in position preparatory to evacuation;

Figure 3 is a plan view looking upwards on the evacuating attachment of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a three-dimensional view of the upper part of the container prior to evacuation, with a portion of the lid cut away; and

Figure 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of part of the top of the container showing the container finally sealed.

Referring to the drawing, H is a container which, while preferably constructed of glass, may be constructed of any rigid material. The lip of container II has an annular groove i2 therein, thus providing an inner rim I3 and an outer rim M on each side of groove 12. This groove l2 provides an air space which, in the operation of my invention, is evacuated. The upper surfaces of rims l3 and M are ground so as to mesh with the lower surfaces" of lid l5 when the latter is placed thereon. The lid ii a ground lower surface which-meshes-with the" ground rims. To assist in securing a more effective seal, a greas may he applieduto the ground glass surfaces before they are fitted-together. A jutting ledge l6, protruding from the lower surface of lid I5, is soconstructedas to contact the inside of inner rim 3 for the purpose o'f'holding the lid properly positioned on the container. Lid iii is provided with apertures I1 and I8, both surrounded by a smooth; flat surface, aperture it being centrally located and used for evacuating the content-space of the container. 'Although aperture ll maybe-in any wall'oi-the container, aperture it falls over the" annular groove l2 and is the means through which the groove is evacuated.

An evacuating attachment has an upper stem 25 with a hollow interior i'l, and a vacu-- um cup 28 at its lower end, which communicates with the interior 27, said cup-having a -flat SLll.-

. cup and the disc lies in position on the smooth surface of the top of lid IS. The entire evacuating attachment 25, when placed on the smooth top surface of the lid and directly over aperture ll, as shown in Figure 2, forms an airtight, sliding engagement with the smooth surface of the top of the lid.

The free end of the stem of the evacuating attachment 25 is attached to a conventional evacuating apparatus through flexible tube 35.

The evacuating apparatus has a three-way attachment with the vacuum line and the evacuating process begun. When the desired pressure within container II is reached, the evacuating attachment is slid along the smooth surface of the lid until the disc 39 covers aperture H to close it. The structure relative to the recess 29 provides a simple means for carrying the sealing disc and is a, structure which prevents ingress of air through the aperture while moving the disc to cover the aperture. The control valve 35 is then opened to the atmosphere and when atmospheric pressure has been restored to the upper surface of the disc 30, a temporary seal of aperture I! has been effected.

he evacuating attachment 25 is then removed nd a coating of melted wax 48 is applied over disc 30 to effect a permanent seal. A permanent seal of, aperture l8 may be effected in the same manner as that described for the sealing and closing of aperture H.

In the event that the annular groove and the content space of the container are both evacuated through apertures l8 and I1, respectively, a double seal of the container is effected. Thus, should leakage occur at either of the seals on the rims, the contents of the container will still remain protected by the other seal.

Having thus described my invention, what is claimed is:

l. A combination of a container having an aperture in its wall surrounded by a smooth, fiat surface, and an evacuating attachment having a hollow stem at one end for connection to a vacuum line, said hollow stem communicating at its other end with a vacuum cup having a fiat surface at its open end, the fiat surface of the open end of the cup having sliding, sealing engagement with the smooth, fiat surface of the wall around the aperture, a recess within the wall of the vacuum cup communicating with the flat surface of the open end of the said cup, and a sealing element removably carried within the said recess whereby, after evacuation through the aperture, the attachment may be slid along the smooth, fiat surface of the wall until the sealing element covers the aperture, thus effectively sealing the container.

2. An apparatus for sealing and evacuating a container having an aperture in its wall sur- '4 rounded by a smooth, fiat surface, comprising an evacuating attachment which has a hollow stem at one end for connection to a vacuum line, said hollow stem communicating at its other end with a vacuum cup having a flat surface at its open end, the flat surface of the open end of the cup having sliding, sealing engagement with the smooth, flat surface of the wall when placed thereon around the aperture, a recess within the wall of the vacuum cup communicating with the flat surface of the open end of the said cup, and a sealing element removably carried within the said recess of the cup, whereby after evacuation of the container through the aperture, the attachment may be slid along the smooth, flat surface of the wall until the sealing element covers the aperture, thus effectively sealing the container.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the sealing element is a flexible disc.

4. An apparatus for sealing and evacuating a container, having an aperture in its wall surrounded by a smooth, flat surface, comprising a vacuum cup which provides for connection to a vacuum line at one end, and has a flat surface at its open end, said flat surface having sliding, sealing engagement with the smooth, flat surface of the wall when placed thereon around the aperture, a recess within the wall of the vaccum cup communicating with the flat surface of the open end of the said cup, and a sealing element removably carried within the said recess of the cup, whereby, after evacuation through the aperture, the vacuum cup may be slid along the smooth flat surface of the Wall until the sealing element covers the aperture, thus effectually sealing the container.

CYRIL W. LAURITZEN.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 76,917 Holden Apr. 21, 1863 228,999 Johnson June 22, 1880 234,674 IngersoIl et al. Nov. 23, 1880 711,212 Honiss Oct. 14, 1902 757,895 Davis Apr. 19, 1904 843,846 Reed Feb. 12, 1907 2,349,588 Brand May 23, 1944 

